Breaking All the Rules (18 page)

“That’s true,”
she said softly. She realized how little she knew about this part of his life.
It was such a huge aspect of who he was and what took him away for so long, yet
it remained a mystery to her. “You know, you’ve never talked much about your
experiences overseas.”

“You never
really wanted to talk,” he pointed out.

In the heat of
the moment, she’d forgotten that part. Chagrined, she looked away.

He reached
across the table and placed his hand on hers. “It’s okay. I didn’t really want
to talk either. That wasn’t what our time together was for. You made me forget
about the rest of the world and everything else in my life when I was with you,
and I loved that. But after a while I realized I want more than just a casual
relationship. I’m at a point in my life where I’m ready for something serious.”

“Are you sure
you didn’t make the easy choice, going after me since I was already sort of in
your life instead of trying to find someone else?”

He cracked a
grin. “If I was looking for easy, I would have bailed a while ago. There’s
nothing easy about you.”

“You know what I
mean.”

Bobby leaned
closer. “I asked you out because I like you, and not just in the sack. I’m old
enough to know the difference between sex and something more. If it was just
sex, it would have gotten old by now. I think there’s something real here, or
if not, there could be. At the very least, it’s worth finding out.”

She shook her
head vigorously, as though the gesture could dispel the words. “I don’t think
so.”

“Why not?”

“Because the
only thing that could happen is one or both of us getting hurt when it doesn’t
work out, which it won’t.”

“You don’t know
that.”

“I do. For one
thing, I already told you, I’m not cut out to be a military wife or girlfriend
or whatever the ultimate role is you have in mind. Besides, you're probably
going to be deployed again. How can we build a serious relationship if you’re
halfway around the world and I only see you a couple of times a year? That’s
fine for what we have now, but it would be too hard to sustain something more
than that. It would be one thing if we were already serious or engaged or
married, but we still barely know each other, and spending so much time apart
isn’t going to help that.”

“Hey, we’re not
complete strangers. We know a lot about each other. Some pretty important
things, too, like how good we are together.”

“Sex isn’t
enough to sustain a relationship.”

“I don’t just
mean sex. It’s the way we can talk to each other. The first thing that
attracted me to you wasn’t your body. It was your mouth. You’re never boring to
be around, that’s for sure, and I like to think I keep up my end.”

“You do,” she
smiled. As much as she hated to admit it, they did have a good verbal rapport.
She’d always thought one of her criteria for a life mate would be that he made
her laugh, and Bobby did do that.

“See, there’s
something. So even if I am called away soon, we have time before that happens,
and there’s plenty of technology that will allow us to communicate while I’m
away.”

“It's not
enough. When I have somebody in my life, that's where I want him to be—in my
life. I don't want to be holding down the homefront while he’s away. I told
you, I don’t want what Jackie’s going through.”

He fell silent.
She could sense his frustration. And here they were again. Despite his
intentions or hopes, nothing had changed. They were right back where they’d
begun. The only place they could be.

He finally
mustered a faint, unconvincing smile. “We don’t have to settle this now. We’re
supposed to be having a nice night. Let’s eat.”

Nina glanced
down at the food she’d barely touched. His plate was about as full.

“You’re right,”
she said, picking up the fork she didn’t remember setting down. “This is too
good not to be eaten.”

They started
eating in silence. She didn’t know what to say and figured he didn’t either.
The easy conversation had effectively been killed by the dangerous waters they’d
waded into. Exactly as she’d known it would, Nina thought. This was why she’d
known a date was a bad idea. This is why it would have been better if they’d
either kept things simple—or made a clean break.

Nina kept her
eyes on her plate. She sensed Bobby doing the same. Somehow the food didn’t
taste as good as it had just minutes before, feeling flavorless on her tongue.

As soon she
choked down the last bite, he finally broke the silence. “Ready for dessert?”

She looked up to
find him watching her from across the table. In the flickering candlelight and
the glow of the moon, she could see that his eyes were softened—maybe with
apology, maybe with regret that the nice evening he’d planned had become so
awkward.

But the night
wasn’t over yet. And as she stared into those compelling green eyes and took in
the hard planes and rugged angles of that gorgeous face, Nina felt the familiar
flicker of arousal in the pit of her stomach. Her belly clenched, a charge of
heat bursting between her thighs.

And she remembered
what this night was supposed to be for, how it could still be saved.

“Definitely. And
I have an idea about that.”  She reached for her purse. “I was saving this for
after dinner, but since you were nice enough to cook, the least I can do is
take care of dessert.” Opening her bag, she pulled out the bottle she’d brought
and set it on the table.

He eyed it with
a raised brow. “Strawberry sauce?”

Nina couldn’t
hold back a grin, a shiver of anticipation racing through her. “Yep.” That damn
bottle had been waiting for days to be cracked open. It was way past time they
did it—in every sense.

“Strawberry
sauce usually isn’t eaten by itself,” Bobby noted. “It’s usually poured onto
something.”

“Or somebody.”

“And I’m sure
you have some ideas of exactly where we can pour it.”

“Oh, so many
ideas. That is, if you’re still hungry.”

“There are some
things I’m always in the mood to eat.”

She let out a
bark of laughter, even as she felt another surge of heat between her thighs.
“Then what are you waiting for?”

“I have no
idea.”

In a heartbeat,
he’d lunged to his feet. And then he was standing in front of her, looming over
her, big and strong and powerful, so fucking masculine her heart kicked into
overdrive, pumping faster in her chest. Damn, the man could move fast.

He offered his
hand with a slow-burning smile. “You want to take this inside?”

Nina smirked. “I
thought you weren’t going to have sex with me.”

“Until you went
on a date with me. That was the deal, right?”

She grinned.
Suddenly the awkwardness of the past hour seemed totally worth it. “Right.”

And she was more
than ready to get her end of the bargain.

Chapter Eight

Bobby couldn’t
wait anymore. The date might not have gone as well as he’d wanted, but it was a
start. He wasn’t about to give up, not by a long shot. But figuring out how
they could make this work could wait.

What couldn’t
was this. Standing over her, looking down at her, was too much. The view was
killing him.

Her eyes
sparkling as she looked up at him, her gaze charged with arousal.

Her lips
slightly open, soft and supple and practically begging to have his against
them.

Her breasts
heaving as she breathed faster, as turned on as he was.

He needed them
out of that dress—he needed
her
out of that dress. He needed to touch her.
It had been too damn long. Yeah, he had stamina, and a hell of a lot of
willpower, as he’d proved to them both over the last couple days. But for
fuck’s sake, a man had his limits and he’d reached the end of his.

She started to
lift her hand to put it in his. He reached out and caught her arm before she
could, hauling her out of the chair and up against his body. She let out a
gasp—either from surprise or delight. With her pressed up against him, he felt
the sound as much as he heard it, her body jerking slightly as she released it,
increasing the friction between them. He almost groaned. By the time the sound
rose in his throat it was closer to a growl.

If he let it
out, it would be right in her face, and that wasn’t what he wanted to do. Not
with her amazing lips inches away. It was all he could do not to bury his mouth
on hers, to shove his tongue between those softly parted lips and tease hers
out to play. He could see she was expecting it, wanting it, waiting for it, as
her tongue slid out to moisten her mouth.

It might as well
be his cock she was licking from tip to base, the way he felt the effect of
that lick right in his groin.

Nina. Naked. Now.

But not here,
out in the open.

Not when there
was no chance he could stop there, not when all he wanted to do was rip that
damn dress off, lift her up on the table and drive his cock into her in one
hard thrust.

He didn’t care
if anybody saw him naked, but he cared a hell of a lot about anyone seeing any
part of her. The growl climbed back in her throat at the thought.

Hell no. He was
the only one who was going to see those perfect breasts, and her legs splayed
open to take him.

Now
.

Bobby spun
around, her arm gripped tight in his hand, and moved for the door.

“Wait.”

The word was
faint, breathless, her voice so thick with arousal it seemed to scratch along
his nerve endings, just turning him on more. Somehow he managed to stop, even
if he didn’t know how, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. He
whipped his head back toward her.

In time to see her
reaching back to the table to pick up the bottle of strawberry syrup with the
hand he wasn’t gripping.

She turned back
to face him, holding up the bottle like a prize. “Don’t want to forget this.”

Bobby couldn’t
care less about the syrup at the moment. He liked the way her skin tasted just
the way it was. She was plenty sweet, and he was more interested in having as
little between her body and his tongue as possible. But he wasn’t going to
waste time arguing with her. If she wanted the stuff so damn bad, they’d get to
it. Eventually.

He bolted back
for the sliding door, throwing it open and pulling her inside. He could see the
doorway to his bedroom up ahead. It was almost a straight shot. Maybe fifty
feet. They’d be there in ten seconds.

Too fucking long.

He spun around
to face her. He saw her eyes flare with surprise, heard her let out another
little gasp. The reactions barely registered. He released her arm at the same
time he stepped forward, forcing her to step back. She did, then again. Her
back collided with the wall next to the door with a thump. He reached out with
one hand to grab the curtain and shove it in front of the sliding door, cutting
them off from view of anyone outside. Even as he did it, he kept moving
forward, until there was no space between them, until his body was pressed up
against hers again where it belonged, until he had her backed up against the
fucking wall and there was no chance she could get away. He grinned as he
stared down into her face, a feeling of raw, primal possessiveness ripping
through him.

Mine
.

And then his
hands were finally on her face where they belonged, framing her cheeks, pulling
her to him. Her mouth was open and ready and waiting for him. Their lips met,
instantly moving together, without hesitation. One kiss only made him want
another, then another, the need for more of her mouth, more of her taste, more
of the feel of her tongue against his pushing higher and higher. She met him
kiss for kiss, hungrily, frantically, her need for more of him only feeding his
own.

She clung to
him, grasping the front of his shirt, hauling him even tighter to her. A
chuckle rose in his throat at her eagerness. After the past few days, she
thought she could just take what she wanted, after denying them both for so
long. Bobby wasn’t about to let her get away with that. She’d been calling the
shots, making her damn rules, for too long. He’d played along, but it was long
past time she got a taste of her own medicine.

Without warning,
he yanked her fingers away from his shirt so fast she couldn’t react quick
enough and tighten her grip. She gasped again—from shock, from surprise—as he
pushed her hands against the wall at her sides. He swallowed the sound,
reveling in the taste of it. Even as he deepened the kiss, he slid her arms upward,
until her hands were above her head. He caught her wrists in one hand, pinning
them to the wall, holding her in place.

Only then did he
break the kiss, abruptly pulling away to peer into her face, a sense of triumph
erupting inside him.

Nina looked up
at him, her breathing heavy. Her breasts heaved up and down, rubbing against
his chest, and he could feel the hard points of her nipples through the dress.
She didn’t look nervous that he had her helpless and restrained. She looked
exhilarated, her face flush with excitement and arousal and giddiness. Her eyes
shined with eagerness, for what was coming, for what he would do next.

He didn’t do
anything. He couldn’t. He could only stare into her deep brown eyes, taking in
her face, as something clutched hard in his chest, gripping him in a vise.
Everything inside him seemed to go still, even as he felt his heart pounding
faster, harder.

God, she was
beautiful. He knew that, of course. He was familiar with every curve and angle
of her face, every part of her body by now. But somehow it hit him as if for
the first time, harder than ever. It seemed like he could spend the rest of his
life looking at her exactly as she was right now, in this moment.